In today’s guest blog post Sue Kenny shares findings from research about the changing nature and shape of voluntary action and active citizenship is taking with the next generation…

There are many forms that contemporary active citizenship can take. It can be an expression of civic and civil commitment as well as a form of activism.

Similarly, volunteering can be an expression of active citizenship in each of these forms. For example, membership of local council committees is a form of civic commitment; helping out in a community centre is a form of civil commitment and organising a protest march involves the activist form of active citizenship. Volunteering plays an important role in generating social capital through these different ways of participating in society.

‘Tribe’ identity

It is found particularly among young people. Indeed, many young people wish to avoid the formal world of organisations and volunteering altogether. This is not to say that they are antisocial, far from it, but rather that their sense of identity is shaped most strongly through friendship networks that may extend to a kind of ‘tribe’ identity.

Communication and connectedness are maintained and nurtured as much on-line as face-to-face. This less formally based active citizenship involves volunteering of a different kind. It is not about joining an organisation or a volunteering group. It is more casual and sporadic than the traditional forms of volunteering.

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